PROGRAMS

Aquatic nuisance or invasive species are nonindigenous species that threaten the diversity or abundance of native species or the ecological stability of infested waters, or commercial, agricultural, aquacultural, or recreational activities dependent on such waters. AIS include nonindigenous species that may occur in inland, estuarine and marine waters and that presently or potentially threaten ecological processes and natural resources.

The Electronic Monitoring Program tests the viability of Electronic Monitoring (EM) as a source of data to document individual accountability of catch and bycatch in the Pacific Trawl Rationalization Program.

The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission's (PSMFC) Habitat Program is involved in programs on the West Coast that further habitat protection for anadromous, estuarine, and marine fish species. Program efforts are focused on estuarine and watershed conservation and restoration, and watershed education for decision makers. The program also works to assist fishermen and communities with recycling fishing nets, gear, and other marine debris.

The Northern Pikeminnow Management Program (NPMP) was started in an effort to reduce predation by northern pikeminnow on juvenile salmonids during their emigration from natal streams to the ocean. Pikeminnow eat millions of salmon and steelhead juveniles each year in the Columbia and Snake River systems. The goal of the program is not to eliminate pikeminnow, but rather to reduce the average size and curtail the number of larger older fish. Reducing the number of these native predators can greatly help the salmon and steelhead juveniles making it out to sea.

The mission of the Pacific Ballast Water Group (PBWG) is to promote development and implementation of safe, economical, effective management of aquatic nuisance species associated with West Coast shipping. The PBWG serves as a coordinating body to share information and formulate consensus solutions on ballast water management and research issues of common concern to regulators, managers, scientists and the shipping industry on the West Coast (Canada, California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska).

The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (PSMFC) Pacific Fisheries Bycatch Program is a collaborative program established in 2008 and designed to develop techniques to reduce bycatch in West Coast fisheries. This program and its collaborative partners have been able to pursue a wide-ranging array of conservation engineering projects relevant to reducing bycatch in west coast trawl fisheries. These projects have provided valuable information to industry and management.

The Pacific Fisheries Information Network (PacFIN) provides timely and accurate data essential for effective fisheries management. The nation’s first regional fisheries data network, PacFIN is a joint Federal and State data collection and information management project. The PacFIN aggregates detailed and summarized state and federal fisheries data to allow fishery managers and associated agencies to track commercial fish catches by area. This helps the states, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC), and other agencies manage fisheries and fishery resources more effectively. The need for this data has become more critical as the demand on our fisheries has increased.

The PIT Tag Information System (PTAGIS), is a data collection, distribution, and coordination project. The fundamental purpose of PTAGIS is to monitor the migratory habits of fish in migrating through the dams that comprise the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) by collecting and distributing data via electronic Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags.

Recreational Fisheries Information Network (RecFIN) is a coordinated fishery data collection, analysis, and monitoring program which seeks to integrate existing state and federal recreational data collection programs. RecFIN was designed to bring together the various organizations data collection efforts to more effectively gather information on the marine recreational fishery harvest, fishing effort, and the seasonal and geographical distribution of that catch and effort in support of management and stock assessment needs.

The Regional Mark Processing Center (RMPC) has been in operation since 1977 when it was decided that a centrally managed regional database was needed to share coded wire tag (CWT) data among the various fisheries agencies on the West Coast of the U.S. The RMPC undertakes the design, development, implementation, and on-going evaluation of the central database for the storage and retrieval of Pacific Coast wide CWTs and related fisheries information.

StreamNet is a cooperative information management and data dissemination project specializing in regionally standardized, georeferenced fisheries and aquatic habitat data from across the Columbia River Basin and the Pacific Northwest in support of fisheries management, monitoring, planning, research, and policy analysis.

The Dungeness crab is a native species to Pacific nearshore habitat from Alaska to Mexico. It supports one of the West Coast’s most valuable fisheries, with about 99% of the Dungeness crab on the U.S. market coming from domestic sources. Landings of Dungeness crab in the fisheries of California, Oregon, and Washington have maintained a cyclical pattern for nearly 50 seasons. Harvests have ranged from 8 million to 54 million pounds, peaking approximately every 10 years.

The Fisheries Economics Data Program (EFIN) and the Alaska Fisheries Economic Data Program (AKFED) are cooperative efforts to collect and consolidate economic data on West Coast and Alaska fisheries. As part of its agreement with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) conducts the EFIN/AKFED data collection projects with the help of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC).

The West Coast Groundfish Observer Program (WCGOP) is a collaborative program between the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The WCGOP was established in 2001 as a Cooperative Agreement between PSMFC and NMFS in response to the West Coast Groundfish Fishery being declared a failure on January 19, 2000. The main goal of the WCGOP is the collection of coast wide; year-round discard rates for the groundfish fisheries of the Pacific coast of the United States.